Get off your arse, Bill Shorten:
Seasonal worker and father of six Silas Aru called it “slavery”.
Federal Circuit Court Justice Michael Jarratt struggled to imagine a “more egregious” case of worker exploitation.
For six months, Aru, 53, picked fruit at farms dotted across Queensland as part of a federal government low-skilled Seasonal Worker Program. He was paid less than $150 in total.
Some days, he ate no food, save for some of the tomatoes he picked.
“I have never before experienced working a full day without even a cup of tea,” Aru told investigators from the Fair Work Ombudsman.
But Aru was among the lucky ones. Thirteen of his fellow workers didn’t receive a single dollar for their work in Australia.
The story of these 22 men from Vanuatu is compelling not only because of the sheer brazen nature of their exploitation, which was described by Justice Jarrett in a judgment as “appalling”.
But, significantly, the exploitation occurred as part of the Australian government’s own program to bring seasonal workers from Pacific islands. The scheme is supposed to fulfil the need for low-skilled labour in Australia’s horticulture sector and to deliver aid in the form of employment to struggling Pacific nations. It’s also supposed to be the nation’s most exploitation proof.
But these men’s treatment reinforces the fear that some had of the Seasonal Worker Program (SWP) that it would mimic the notorious practice of “blackbirding”, in which up to 62,000 Pacific islander people were forced into slavery in 19th-century Queensland.
Get off your arse, Bill Shorten. Reform the visa program. Give it a royal commission. Cut immigration and get behind Aussie wages.
What are you good for?
